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It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
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Oct 7, 2026 updated
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Song Meaning
Edmund Sears wrote the words in 1849, and Selah sings them with the opening image intact: a “glorious song of old” from angels who bend near the earth “to touch their harps of gold.” The first verse gives the message in a single line, “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,” then quiets the world to hear it, as it lay “in solemn stillness.”
The second verse turns from heaven to the road below, speaking to those “beneath life's crushing load” who “toil along the climbing way / With painful steps and slow” and inviting them to “rest beside the weary road.” The closing phrase, “the angels sing,” loops as a chorus, so the invitation repeats until it settles. A third verse looks ahead to “the time foretold,” when the whole world sends the angels' song back.
Luke 2:14 records the original chorus of glory to God and peace on earth, and Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” answers the tired travelers of the second verse.
Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King.
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
[Verse 2]
And all beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing.
[Chorus]
And hear the angels sing.
The angels sing.
The angels sing.
[Verse 3]
For lo, the days are hastening on,
By prophet seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.
[Chorus]
The angels sing.
The angels sing.
The angels sing.
[Outro]
O hear the angels sing.